2020 has been a strange year. Especially for those in ministry. And doubly so for those just setting out in ministry. You've written your exams, you've survived your psychologicals and every other interview before committee after committee. Seminary is just behind you. So now you face the daunting task of discerning who and Whose you are in ministry on the ground. Where do you turn? Here's my recommendation of those books you should read every year. I'm listing a sort of book-of-the-month club for new clergy, but seasoned clergy might well consider this an annual tradition. These are those books to which I personally turn year in and year out. In the past, I've made the list assuming an simple annual rotation. This time, I'm making a two-year rotation (year A and year B)
- Gregory the Great's Pastoral Rule (Year A) and George Herbert's Country Parson (Year B)
- Karl Barth's Dogmatics in Outline (Year A) and his The Humanity of God (Year B)
- Jurgen Moltmann's Crucified God (Year A) and Catherine LaCugna's God for Us (Year B)
- Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love (Year A) and Helmut Thielicke's A Little Exercise for Young Theologians (Year B)
- Walter Bruegemann's The Prophetic Imagination (Year A) and Walter Wink's The Powers that Be (Year B)
- Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline (Year A) and Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines (Year B)
- Will Willimon's The Accidental Preacher (Year A) and Eugene Peterson's The Pastor (Year B)
- Harold Senkbiel's The Care of Souls (Year A) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Spiritual Care (Year B)
- Richard Lischer's Open Secrets (Year A) and Tod Bolsinger's Canoeing the Mountains (Year B)
- Henri JM Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus (Year A) and Ruth Haley Barton's Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership (Year B)
- Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor (Year A) and Lesslie Newbigin's The Household of God (Year B)
- Will Willimon How Odd of God (Year A) and William Brosend's The Homiletical Question (Year B)